Pressure-Assisted Fabrication of Perovskite Solar Cells

O V Oyelade; O K Oyewole; D O Oyewole; S A Adeniji; R Ichwani; D M Sanni; W O Soboyejo

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-64090-5

Pressure-Assisted Fabrication of Perovskite Solar Cells

Sci Rep. 2020 Apr 28;10(1):7183. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64090-5.

Authors

O V Oyelade^{1

2}, O K Oyewole^{3

4}, D O Oyewole⁵, S A Adeniji^{1

6}, R Ichwani⁵, D M Sanni^{1

7}, W O Soboyejo^{8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Theoretical and Applied Physics, African University of Science and Technology, Km. 10 Airport Road, Galadimawa, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.
² Department of Physics, Bingham University, Km. 26 Abuja-Keffi Express Way, P. M. B. 005, Karu, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics, Baze University, Plot 686 Cadastral Zone C00, Kuchingoro, Abuja, Nigeria.
⁵ Program in Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA.
⁶ Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria, Plot 681 Cadastral zone COO Research and Institution Area, Abuja, Nigeria.
⁷ Department of Physics, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, Nigeria.
⁸ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA. wsoboyejo@wpi.edu.
⁹ Program in Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA. wsoboyejo@wpi.edu.
¹⁰ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 60 Prescott Street, Gateway Park Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA. wsoboyejo@wpi.edu.

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a combined experimental and analytical/computational study of the effects of pressure on photoconversion efficiencies of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). First, an analytical model is used to predict the effects of pressure on interfacial contact in the multilayered structures of PSCs. The PSCs are then fabricated before applying a range of pressures to the devices to improve their interfacial surface contacts. The results show that the photoconversion efficiencies of PSCs increase by ~40%, for applied pressures between 0 and ~7 MPa. However, the photoconversion efficiencies decrease with increasing pressure beyond ~7 MPa. The implications of the results are discussed for the fabrication of efficient PSCs.